Compassion for a King
by M.Shelley
Summary: So, this is my first fanfic in the universe of LOTR. It is about the Elven King Thranduil and a certain dryad (not Toreth from the forgotten tree), her name is Gladhril Theirien (which means "The Laughing woman, daughter of the Florishing (Man)). I hope it will find your acceptance, please Review! Thranduil x OC
1. Prologue

Thranduil mourned about his father when it happened. He appreciated the condolences from the other elven leaders, but he did not really believe in their words, they would not feel his pain.

And the this young girl walked up to him, clothed all in black, like she was a widow, _maybe she even was._ She had darker skin than the elves, but her ears were pointy as his, even more visible. When she stood before him he saw, that her eyes were filled with tears. "My Lord Thranduil,", she said silently, "I'm truly sorry about your loss, I wish I could have helped.". "Thank you for your compassion. You must have lost someone too, please accept my condolences.", he did not want to be like this, but he could not be out of his skin. He wanted to show her the same compassion as she showed him, but he just could not.

"Thank you. I-I-I simply don't know how I shall live now.", the tears found their way out of her eyes and she sank to her knees, her hands covering her face. His guards wanted to shove her away, to make place for the other people and leave her alone in her mourning, but Thranduil immediately got down to his knees to and hugged her, suppressing his own tears. She was surprised at first but then accepted his hug and returned it, maybe it was his way of showing his true feelings, action and not words.

Suddenly she heard him whisper in her ear, "Come with me, back to Greenwood.". She pulled away and looked at him in shock, "You serious?", she asked, barely audible. He only nodded. "Alright, I'm coming with you."

"Besides, what is your name?"

She chuckled, "I am Gladhril Theririen, known as Mistil to the folks in the Shire."

 _Author's Note: Okay, this is really short, but it's a prologue so it don't has to be long._


	2. Wooden Walls & The Dinner Meeting part 1

Weeks passed. They traveled back to Greenwood after the infamous meetings with the other leaders. Rage over them still boiled in Thranduil when he met her again.

She wore a deep green dress when she walked among the hallways. Her hair fell to her shoulders in dark curls, her pointy ears peaking threw it. She seemed not to take any notice of his presence, instead she was fascinated by the walls of his palace. Her thin hands traveled along every bit of the wood, following the lines and thinking for a moment before choosing which one to be next.

All of sudden she began to speak, he did not know if she spoke to him or to somebody else, maybe nobody at all, "I wonder, if I'm going to be once as old as these trees were. This wood is one of the finest and oldest I ever came across. My mother would have been amazed.", it was barely a whisper but to him it was audible.

He approached her silently and said, "You lost her?", she jumped at his very presence and turned to him, bowing. "My King, I..", she started but was cut off by his deep voice, "Stop that. You are no citizen from Greenwod, you are my guest. Please, don't call me that."

"I understand. It is still uncommon for you to hear these words, to wear this crown, and you miss your father like any good son would do. I will do as you order.", she giggled at the last sentence and he did not understand the humor. "And yes, I lost her, but this is all in the past. She was killed while I was still small.", she added, two single tears escaping her eyes.

He stood next to her helplessly, he did not know to say anything, except for, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked.". "It is okay. You don't need to be sorry, Thranduil. You can hug me again, if you want, that is.", that caused him to stare at her in disbelief, his cheeks blushing. She laughed at his expression. Slowly his embarrassment faded into a grin and he asked, "Lady Gladhril, you're definitely a woman with many secrets. Would you like to answer a few of my questions over dinner?"

As she stepped into the throne room a large table met her sight. On it were various foods, dishes from all corners of Greenwood the Great, from sweet fresh fruits to steaming delicious meat.

Thranduil sat on the edge of the table in his large throne, still unaccustomed to the furniture. When she took a step into the room he stood hastily. He wore a silvery robe, sewed with yarn made out of starlight, and slim simple black trousers underneath. His crown shone as if it was emerging light itself and it was the only thing that held his light blond hair.

She for herself had chosen a simple dark red dress. The color was not familiar to her, but she knew about him and his crown and wanted to fit in. Around her waist was a girdle made from roots in a complicated yet beautiful pattern, which was the only jewelery-like thing she wore. Her hair fell open down to her shoulders.

"M-Mae Govannen, Gadhril.", he stuttered, "You look wonderful.", his mind wondered how she made that with no jewelery at all.


	3. The Dinner Meeting Part 2

Thranduil said he had questions, but as long as they ate he did not speak. So, as she finished the last bite Gladhril looked at him questioningly.

Thranduil noticed her stare as he too finished his meal. He was curious about this woman. He did not exactly know what she was, no elf, but no human nor a half-breed of some sort. Her direct way of acting was too a riddle to his mind, never before had he met a woman bold like that and sensitive at the same time. His thoughts trailed away from her gaze and so did his eyes. He wondered how her hair would feel if he ran his fingers through it…

"Thranduil?", he jumped from his name ending the long silence. "Y-Yes?", she had noticed him staring, didn't she? First time for centuries Thranduil's face blushed brightly red. Gladhril tried to stifle her laughter, but failed. "You have questions?", "Would you like to visit the Royal Gardens? It is quite beautiful there at sunset.". Now it was Gladhril's time to blush, "Why, yes, of course. I mean, I'd love to, Thranduil."

The sun bathed the wonderful Royal Gardens of Greenwood the Great in a warm, reddish shine. Gladhril's eyes literally lit up as she saw it. To Thranduil this was a most beautiful picture, it seemed as if nature had beautified itself only for Gladhril and her dress.

"Can I take my shoes off?", she made him jump again. Blushing, scratching the back of his head he stuttered, "Well, yes, of course you can.", what made her laugh wholeheartedly. The sound seemed to complete the scene. While Thranduil mostly stayed on the small paths Gladhril walked barefoot across the grass and in between the bushes and small trees. The garden made her look like a playing child.

She sat down on a bench in front of a pond and gestured for him to sit down next to her. He made his way over to her and she said, "You had questions.".

Chuckling a little at her boldness he answered, "Yes. Many of them actually. I'm quite sure, not all will be answered today.", he stopped suddenly as he saw her pout, "What?", she let out a small sigh, "You elves. Sometimes you really could get to the point a little faster. If you go on like this, we won't answer a single question today.". Thranduil blinked. She really was bold.

"Alright", he said with a capitalizing gesture, "I can be bold too, if you wish so. What are you exactly?". She laughed again. Calmly staring at the pond she said, "Have you ever heard of Dryads, Thranduil?".

"You mean 'Cementari', Yavanna's daughters? My mother once told me a song or two when I was a very small elfling. I thought they were just a legend.", he looked in her eyes, at her knowing grin. "You are one, aren't you?", she nodded in agreement. A small root grew out of the ground and into her hand. She played with it for a while, Thranduil, and every servant passing by, left in a helpless, wondering, happy stare.


	4. Concerning Dryads, and family issues

_Author's Note: Sorry for the long gap, I'll try and update more, at least I hope so. In this chapter we will hear more about the dryads' origin. Besides, sorry for all the grammar mistakes in the previous chapters._

 _Thanks Erintii for the review! It means a lot to me. I think a lot of your questions will be answered ;)_

Still playing with the small root Gladhril had rolled over, leaving Thranduil alone on the bench, and now she was laying in the grass next to the pond, "You call us Yavanna's daughters. Men usually call us monsters, Ents call us simply Cementari, while Hobbits see the individual in each of us and dwarves hardly ever trust us, thus they call us wood witches or something.

You're partly right. Yavanna was the one who created us, like the Ents, to protect and heal her creatures. So we could call her our mother, but in the end she's some kind of mother for almost anything, isn't she? She created us centuries after the Ents, but before the first elves came into Arda. Our legends say, we were few until then, and we didn't reproduce as dryads are only female. "

Thranduil interrupted her, grinning, "What about the Ents? You seem to have a lot in common."

Gladhril raised an eyebrow at him, "You don't say I should mate with an Ent? Our folks have always been friends, but not more. But we developed some liking in Elves and Men, and so we mated with them.", now it was Thranduil's time to blush when she smiled playfully at him.

She continued, "Before you ask, we can't do magic like your kind. But a different kind of magic, healing, making plants grow, but we can't see the future. And we hardly ever fight, though we're able to if we must, but we prefer peace. You will hardly ever catch a dryad with a metal weapon, we prefer anything that's made from wood, and mostly make those ourselves. "

She stopped suddenly, watching the grass dance in a slight breeze. Thranduil noticed the tears in her eyes ad in a second sat next to her, touching her hand ever so lightly. She shivered when he asked, "What is it?".

"It's nothing, really.", she looked away from him and her body turned in the same direction, causing their skin to skin contact to stop.

"Gladhril, please let me know. You crying is the saddest thing I've ever seen, did I do something wrong? Please tell me.", thus he reached over her and grabbed one of her hands firmly, stroking it slightly.

Surprised she turned around, the tears streaming down her face, but he didn't let go of her hand. The dryad sobbed and turned away again. Thranduil patiently waited for her to open up, still stroking her hand. Suddenly he heard her whisper between the sobs, "It is all my fault. I've been there, at the great battle. I was with the healers. They all trusted in me because of my abilities. My brother and father were part of the human forces, they were the only thing I had left after my mother died in a Fire years ago." , she cuddled deeper into his embrace, "Almost at the end of the battle I saw them fighting a large troll, which suddenly changed into a cloaked man. I immediately knew that this was Sauron's hand. I knew that they wouldn't make it alone and ran towards them to help, but at this moment, the Nazgul joined the battle and cut off my way. I saw how Sauron's hand chopped off my father's head and almost split my brother into two pieces, and I couldn't help them. When I got there the Hand had vanished, and all I could do was cry, until the healers called for me."

Thranduil woke from the trance-like state he was in from the time he noticed how young she really was, when she had a human brother and father that could still be alive. Yet only she was left, with eternities to mourn. He remembered what happened by that time. His father had sacrificed himself for him, taking the Nazgul's blow. She was probably called back to heal him. And she didn't succeed, though she was the best healer they had back then. And she thought it was her fault, because she helped her family, and therefore was too late for his father.

A mix of anger and pity filled Thranduil. Gladhril noticed the sudden change and turned towards him. He saw in her eyes that it had been exactly like that, and she saw that he knew. Hastily he got up on his feet and stumbled backwards, "W-Would you please go now?", he choked out. All of him had not the slightest hint how he should react now. Was he supposed to hug her? Or should he throw her out? If not in prison? Deciding not to do anything he stormed out of the garden and slammed the door behind him.

Gladhril stared at the closed door for a long time, until she got up and went into the woods, straight through the hedge.

 _Author's Note: Phew, what do you think of it? How do you think should Thranduil have reacted? And what about Gladhril? Please Review!_


End file.
